Toy.



PATENTED OCT. 3, 1905. F. HOWARD.

TOY

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 28, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT option.

TOY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1905.

Application filed October 28, 1904. Serial No. 230,396,

To (all whom, 220 may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK HOWARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Toys, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to toys; and the object is to provide a toy whichis both gyratory and laterally movable in such manner that the body,which will usually be a representation of one or more human figures, mayhave the appearance of Waltzing or performing other similar movement.This object is accomplished in the manner illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective viewillustrating the manner in which the toy may best be made to operate.Fig. 2 is a view of the toy in a form representing a single figure. Fig.3 is a vertical sectional view of the lower portion of the body portion,showing the sphere in position therein. Fig. 4 shows a modified formwherein the body portion represents two figures in a dancing posture.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The body portion a stands substantially upright and is recessed at thebottom, so as to freely fit over the sphere Z2 without binding the same.The bottom of the body portion is open, so that the sphere may roll uponany suitable surface. In order that the sphere may not become separatedfrom the body portion in case the latter is lifted up, a retainer 0 isprovided, which also acts as a weight to hold the toy upright andincrease its stability of position.

The invention may be embodied in a variety of forms and may beconstructed of various materials; but good results may be obtained bymaking the body portion of a shell of paper or papier-mzich, so that itmay be light, and employing a glass, marble, or other comparativelyheavy sphere, so that when the sphere is placed upon an inclined surfaceit may acquire sufiicient momentum to readily move the body portion.

The toy is operated to best advantage by placing it upon a smooth hardsurface, which may be held in the hand and readily tilted so as tocontinually vary its inclination slightly from the horizontal. For thispurpose smooth stiff cardboard or other substance may be employed, andwhen the support is thus tilted from one position to another the spherewill roll around upon the support. Not only will this cause the bodyportion to move from side to side, but the friction between the insidesurface of the body portion and the surface of the sphere willsimultaneously induce a gyra tory motion, so that if the body portion bea representation of one or two persons there will be produced a strikingimitation of Waltzing.

Although the body portion may be made to represent two persons, as shownin Fig. 4, nevertheless there will always be a single base, and the bestresults will be obtained if the base is circular and the center ofgravity be approximately over the center of the base. In Fig. i, wherethe body portion represents two figures, the right foot of the malefigure is shown to be separate from the base; but in such case the rightfoot of the male figure will be raised sufficiently so that it will notmake contact with the surface upon which the toy rests.

The material of which the toy is formed is not essential, and the bodyportion may, if desired, be pressed from sheet metal, such as tin oraluminium. In such case the retainer 0 need not be a piece separate fromthe body portion a; but in any event it is proper that the lower portionof the toy be weighted so as to prevent it from becoming readilyoverturned.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A gyratory and laterally-movable toy consisting of a hollow bodyportion open at the bottom, and a heavy sphere within said body portionhaving almost the same diameter as the inside of said body portion forcontacting the same substantially without lost motion in a lateraldirection, the sphere thereby being adapted to contact the body portionat a height substantially equal to one-half the diameter of the base ofthe body portion for the purpose described.

2. A toy comprising a hollowed body portion open at the bottom, a spherefor moving the same, and means for weighting down the lower end of thebody portion for the purpose described.

3. In a gyratory and laterally-movable toy, the combination of a light-weight upright body portion open at the bottom, a relatively heavy spherefreely mounted Within the said open In Witness whereof I have hereuntosubbottom thereof for moving the same, and a scribed my name in thepresence of two Witretainer at the bottom of the said body pornesses.

tion for preventing the disassembling of the FREDERICK HOW'ARD. 5 parts,said retainer consisting of heavy ma- Witnesses:

terial to thereby act as a Weight for holding HOWARD M. COX,

the body portion in upright position. ELEoNoRE J. MARLIN.

